hi
1st post here on the forum . Last Thursday I got a 3 yr old female Shih tzu . she is the first dog i have had since i was a kid , so threr is a bit of a learning curve .

I went out and bought purina beniful for small dogs . it looked to be the best the grocery store had , but i am making that judgment on the fact that it was the most expensive , and it said for small dogs on the front . the breeder we got her from was feeding her Old Roy , which apparently is the walmart house brand .

the reason i am posting is that the other day she went for a long time with out a poop probably 36 hours . i was getting worried , but when i checked her tummy it was soft and she did not appear to be in any pain or discomfort . I thought maybe she was a bit constipated , with the stress of moving enviroments, and the change in food , plus she discovered what raw hid chewies were and had eaten 2 of them over the weekend ( i don't think she has had them b4 ) . so i was not surprised she was a bit bound up but i was concerned .

any way i left for a few hours , and she had an accident. which was no big deal , i was happy she had had a poop , but b4 i could clean it up she ate it . she had a good poop this morning and things seem to be back on track .
reading the threads on poop eating , i noticed that it can be from a vitamin deficiency in their food , or lack of food .

is there a truly good dog food for small dogs out there , or is that just a marketing gimmick and is their any additives i can/should add to help her if she gets constipated again or balance her vitamins , I have been told brewers yeast , for the vitamines , and a table spoon of canola oil for constipation . Also how much food should i be giving her . the package says between 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups a day , that's quite a range . she is 12 lbs , and gets at least 2 usually 3 walks of a block and a half or more ( 15 to 20 min ) a day , i don't know weather that makes her active enough or not .

I have a vet appointment next week to get a base line for her and bring her shots up to date , so i will ask him as well . I was just hoping to get some advice from others with Shih tzus or small dogs .

another question is these 100% beef liver freeze dried treats are they healthy , the lady at the pet store gave her some and she went goofy over them so i bought a pack , but the liver is what filters all the crap out of the blood and there could be residues in them does anyone know anything about them ?